Freud got a lot of the credit for putting psychology on the map, but authentic Judaism has been teaching people about how to deal with their subconscious inner struggles for centuries.

So now, we reach the question of questions: How do we successfully fight off our inclinations for evil, and do our best to put the inclination for good in the driving seat?

Thankfully, the Rabbis also had this covered hundreds of years before Freud was even a gleam in his father’s eye: we need to ask God to help us. And the single best way of doing this is to spend some time talking to God regularly, every single day, in our own words about the issues we’re facing, and how we’re feeling, and how we’re acting and reacting in life.

When we get God involved, He somehow starts helping us to see past all our rationalizations and excuses, to see what actually needs some work and improvement, but in a very gentle, motivating manner.

One of the biggest mistakes psychology makes is that it encourages people to focus on the ‘bad’, and the problem, and the flaw, without explaining how to get past it, so they end up ‘stuck’ with all this newly-uncovered ‘bad’ and they can get pretty depressed and start to despair about ever really fixing the problem.

Instead of dwelling on the bad, Judaism teaches us that it’s enough just to recognize there are issues that need to be addressed and worked on, without endlessly analyzing and discussing our problems and flaws. Authentic Jewish psychology says: Focus on the good, and don’t keep harping on the so-called bad in yourself and other people.

That’s because our bad characteristics and horrible behavior patterns aren’t really ‘us’ – they’re just all the rubbish we’re getting wrapped up in by our Evil Inclination. Remember that the real us – the real you – is the soul, and it’s only good.

But the only way we can really release that good is if we connect ourselves firmly to God, and get Him involved in the process, preferably by talking to Him every single day.

Sadly, the secular Freud probably never knew about this authentic, original, and still the best Jewish ‘talking cure’ for all emotional and mental difficulties. If he did, maybe modern psychology would have fulfilled its touted potential for transforming the world, and healing the human psyche, once and for all.